As Quebecers vote on October 5, social media platforms and local monitors have ramped up rules, monitoring and voter information efforts to limit misinformation, impersonation and AI-driven deception ahead of and during polling day.
The eSafety Commissioner today announced a package of fresh enforcement guidance and grant funding aimed at stopping AI generated sexualised images and helping platforms and communities prevent image based abuse targeting children and young people.
Instagram has begun rolling out Edits assistant in the United States, a conversational AI inside its Edits video editor that analyzes a creator’s own account metrics to explain past performance and suggest ideas, hooks and captions.
The UK regulator Ofcom has issued fresh industry reminders and flagged progress and limits with age assurance, reiterating its investigation into TikTok and pressing search engines and app ecosystems to do more to keep children away from harmful content.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the Islamabad High Court that existing law does not let it impose an across‑the‑board age limit or mandatory age verification on social media platforms, and said a new legal framework would be required.
Malaysia regulators are scrutinising social media posts that appear to use artificial intelligence to alter video of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mourning his wife. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission says it has contacted platforms and may take action under existing communications law.
The Polizia Postale has expanded its annual education campaign with a nationwide Action Week beginning October 2, 2026, taking officers back into classrooms across Liguria and other regions to confront rising cases of sextortion, online harassment and violence involving minors.
At a Safer Internet Day event in Jakarta on October 2, 2026, Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs joined Kemenko PMK, Google Indonesia and YouTube to launch community programs, MOOC courses and creator partnerships aimed at raising digital literacy and strengthening protections for users under 16 in the country’s evolving AI era.
From October 1, 2026 Meta is charging Indian businesses for many WhatsApp Business Platform messages that were previously free inside the 24 hour service window, introducing a 1,000 free monthly allowance per business number and new per message rates for utility, authentication and marketing messages.
The Greek government has moved from policy announcement to implementation planning, telling platforms they must have reliable age verification in place ahead of a January 1, 2027 start date and signalling active supervision by national regulators.
Berlin on Wednesday backed the European Commission’s proposal that would block under 13s from unrestricted social media access and place phased limits on adolescents, saying the move must be turned into enforceable EU law quickly to protect mental health and childhood development.
Dozens of AI produced posters and coordinated posts on Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok helped spread calls to blockade high schools across France this week, investigators and news reports say, complicating efforts to distinguish grassroots student demands from outside agitation.
Finland's national online regulator has signalled a stepped up enforcement posture under the EU Digital Services Act, prioritising protections for children and faster responses to platform removals and transparency requests. The move comes as the EU finalises guidance on how DSA and privacy rules interact.
The Danish government has published a draft bill that would set a national minimum age of 15 for access to certain social media and video sharing services. The measure, put out for public consultation, targets algorithmic recommendation and platform practices and is pitched as a child protection step ahead of planned EU rules.
As China prepares for its Golden Week holiday starting October 1, a surging online debate over mandatory weekend work has exploded on domestic platforms, with a Weibo topic attracting hundreds of millions of views and companies and regulators watching closely.